Science Central Inc.

“The director of finance will be primarily responsible for facilitating the preparation of the irs form 990 (hereinafter "form 990") in compliance with irs regulations. He/she will work to provide information to the outside auditors for the preparation of the form 990. In advance of the filing deadline, once the form 990 has been completed, it will be submitted to the finance committee for review. After the finance committee has approved the form 990, it will be presented to the executive committee. Once the executive committee has approved it, it will be presented to the full board for review and approval prior to submission to the irs. At each level of review, the copies of the form 990 may be transmitted in either paper or electronic copy.”

“Conflicts of interest must be reported immediately; disclosure of conflicts of interest is an essential and ongoing obligation for board members in the course of their duties. If a conflict of interest is identified, it should be discussed with the president and chairman of the board to identify the proper course of remedial action. These actions may range from recusal in any business transactions involving science central or the other interested organization to withdrawing from involvement in the other organization's business or board of directors to other actions that assure the conflict of interest or even the appearance of a conflict of interest may be avoided.”

“Science central's executive committee reviews and establishes (or makes a recommendation to the full board for approval) executive compensation on an annual basis, usually in the first month of the fiscal year, based on the following factors: a. Achievement of goals and objectives as established by the executive committee, either through the establishment of such goals and objectives on an annual basis and/or successful implementation of a board approved strategic plan during the just concluded fiscal year. B. A survey of executive compensation for not-for-profit executive directors/presidents in the fort wayne, allen county and northeast indiana area, as such information is available c. Availability of funding as determined during preparation of the fiscal year's budget and approved by the executive committee or full board of directors.”

“The organization's irs form 990 for the prior three years is available at www.guidestar.org”

“Governing documents, policies and financial statements are available upon request.”

“2020 was a challenging year for science central due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, and required much flexibility and ingenuity from our staff to ensure that we could continue to provide stem education to the public safely, while still including a hands-on component when possible. Like many public attractions locally and in the state of indiana, science central temporarily closed from late-march to mid-june 2020 in compliance with governor holcomb's stay-at-home order. During this time, management was dedicated to maintaining staff on full pay and with full benefits. When we were able to reopen, we had modified our center to mark a one-way path through our exhibits; moved demonstrations from the demonstration theater to the temporary exhibition gallery to allow safe distancing between household groups; removed all chairs and tables from the food service area, and closed all vending machines and water fountains; added clear barriers around the admissions desk; decreased our operational hours; decreased the number of visitors per hour; had face covering requirements for visitors and staff; decreased the number of staff per office; allowed for remote work; implemented additional cleaning procedures in visitor and staff areas; and, initiated all staff, committee and board meetings to be held in a virtual format, to name a few of our safety precautions. The state shutdown was financially challenging, and the earned revenue from attendance, memberships, programs and gift shop was significantly below previous years. The management and the development team was successful in gaining permission from funders to recommit project funds to general operations or pause and extend funding to another year; acquiring special one-time pandemic-related funds; and we continued to hold in-person our golf and gala fundraisers, albeit to lower numbers than in previous years. During this time, we remained dedicated to providing unique educational opportunities. For example, upon reopening, we continued to offer reduced admission days on the last saturdays of most months; provided seasonal science camps, school activities and family opportunities through kits and ivcs instead of in-person; switched our special abilities days to an online format. During this time, our education department worked hard to create educational videos that were shared on our social media channels, and to modify existing labs that did not have an ivc (interactive video conferencing) version so they could be presented remotely. Even though we had to close or remove several of our high-touch exhibits, the exhibits department was able to use the time to repair and refurbish exhibits throughout the center; install a few new exhibits, such as a sound exhibit; and host temporary exhibitions, including flexhibits, about basic physical, natural and applied science principles; turtle travels, about turtle ecology, anatomy and behavior; and, nature banners, about ecology, the environment and endangered species.”